Apple Inc. (AAPL) Fires Manager of iOS 6 Maps Team

On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Apple Inc. (AAPL) has fired the manager of the iOS 6 Maps team, Richard Williamson. Williamson lead the team that created the new iOS 6 Maps, which many users complained was not very useful, and was not entirely accurate in providing directions. In many cases, the Maps would display a location in the wrong city or country, and sometimes even in the middle of the ocean.

Following a major management shake up at AAPL, which removed Scott Forstall as SVP of iOS Software, Eddy Cue took over the role of managing Maps. Forstall was also reportedly involved “internal politics” at Apple, which also added to the decision for Forstall to be removed. This was one of Cue’s first major changes in his new position, looking for outside assistance now to help move Maps on iOS forward.

A team at Apple has been working to fix the mapping mistakes, focusing first on some of the most glaring problems, one person said. The satellite imagery over the U.K. has been improved and labels for popular U.S. landmarks such as the Washington Monument have been corrected.

The Maps application included in iOS 6 was essentially a 1.0 version, meaning that the Maps team was under an intense time crunch, and was not able to work out many of the kinks generally associated with any new application. Bloomberg also notes that the Maps team is working to fix many of the known issues, while Apple will likely begin searching for a new manager, capable of leading the existing Maps team.